Former Uber driver charged in girl’s crosswalk death in S.F.

Syed Muzaffar, 57, of Union City was charged Monday with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in connection with a crash in San Francisco that killed a 6-year-old girl.

Syed Muzaffar, 57, of Union City was charged Monday with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in connection with a crash in San Francisco that killed a 6-year-old girl.

Photo: San Francisco Police / San Francisco Police Department

Photo: San Francisco Police / San Francisco Police Department

Image
1of/4

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 4

Syed Muzaffar, 57, of Union City was charged Monday with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in connection with a crash in San Francisco that killed a 6-year-old girl.

Syed Muzaffar, 57, of Union City was charged Monday with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in connection with a crash in San Francisco that killed a 6-year-old girl.

Photo: San Francisco Police / San Francisco Police Department

Former Uber driver charged in girl’s crosswalk death in S.F.

1 / 4

Back to Gallery

San Francisco prosecutors charged a former Uber driver with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in connection with a crash in San Francisco last year that killed a 6-year-old girl.

Syed Muzaffar, 57, of Union City surrendered Thursday after the charge was filed and posted $50,000 bail. He is to appear Wednesday at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco.

The crash that killed Sofia Liu happened at 8 p.m. Dec. 31, when Muzaffar, driving a Honda sport utility vehicle, failed to yield to the girl, her mother and her 4-year-old brother as they crossed Polk Street in a crosswalk near Civic Center, police and prosecutors said.

Muzaffar had a green light and was making a right turn from westbound Ellis Street to northbound Polk Street in the SUV when he hit the three in the crosswalk, authorities said. Sofia’s mother and brother were hurt but survived.

Prosecutors opted to charge Muzaffar — who no longer drives under contract with Uber — with vehicular manslaughter as a misdemeanor and not a felony after finding no evidence of gross negligence.

“The evidence in this case does not support gross negligence,” Muzaffar’s attorney, John Hamasaki, said Tuesday. “This is not a case about distracted driving. The evidence will show that Mr. Muzaffar was not talking on the phone or texting and was not engaged with an Uber device.”

Hamasaki said Muzaffar “has been devastated by the death of Sofia Liu and continues to grieve every day for the Liu family.”

Huan Kuang, the victim’s mother, “cannot stop crying,” she said Tuesday at a news conference at her attorney’s office.

The last thing Kuang remembers before the crash, she said, is seeing light from a cell phone shining on the Uber driver’s face. “He keep looking at phone,” she said, bobbing her head down to demonstrate. “I cannot forgive him.”

Kuang said she is still receiving medical care for injuries to her eye, arm and leg. Her son has recovered physically but is in counseling. Every time he sees another child, he asks, “Will you play with me?” because he misses his sister, she said.

The girl’s family sued Muzaffar and Uber in January, alleging that Muzaffar was logged on to the company’s UberX app when he fatally struck Sofia and was waiting to receive and accept a ride request. The driver’s attorney also has said he was between fares.

Uber has maintained in court papers that Muzaffar was never an “employee, agent, joint venture or partner of Uber.” Attorneys said he had, however, passed a background check. They said he had not been carrying a fare, heading to pick up a fare or responding to a request to pick up a fare — and thus had no reason to be interacting with his smartphone.